CSIRO wireless responds to emergencies
The new high-accuracy terrestrial localisation systems are suitable for applications as diverse as tracking workers in emergency situations to following cyclists racing around a track.
CSIRO has signed a $1 million collaboration to develop the technology for emergency purposes in conjunction with Emergency Management Australia (EMA), Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency and the National Security Science and Technology Branch within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Federal Attorney-General, Mr Robert McClelland, who is the Minister responsible for EMA, says the technology could prove “an invaluable tool for Australian emergency service workers, especially when searching for injured or lost people in hazardous situations. It has the potential to save lives.”
This contract aims to pave the way for commercialisation of the technology for use in emergency management to start in about three years.
CSIRO recently commercialised the technology for use in tracking race horses and motor cars with Sydney company, Trantek Systems Pty Limited. The early solution uses fixed base station infrastructure located around the perimeter of the race track.
“Exact readings of these factors at the location where the personnel are standing can then be provided back to a base station”,
Dr Hedley said.ICT Centre Principal Research Scientist, Dr Mark Hedley, says the new high-accuracy terrestrial localisation systems use radio frequency tracking technologies and aim to be cost effective.
They consist of a network of wireless nodes which can be combined with sensors to enable monitoring of environmental variables.
Dr Hedley said that emergency personnel sent into a dangerous situation could, for instance, wear sensors which monitor their heart rate and core temperature, as well as gas or radiation levels in the surrounding environment.
“Exact readings of these factors at the location where the personnel are standing can then be provided back to a base station”, Dr Hedley said.
The research is being undertaken within CSIRO’s ICT Centre’s Wireless Technologies Laboratory, which develops cutting-edge technologies for antennas, millimetre-wave devices and wireless communications systems.
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.csiro.auAll latest news from the category: Information Technology
Here you can find a summary of innovations in the fields of information and data processing and up-to-date developments on IT equipment and hardware.
This area covers topics such as IT services, IT architectures, IT management and telecommunications.
Newest articles
Superradiant atoms could push the boundaries of how precisely time can be measured
Superradiant atoms can help us measure time more precisely than ever. In a new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen present a new method for measuring the time interval,…
Ion thermoelectric conversion devices for near room temperature
The electrode sheet of the thermoelectric device consists of ionic hydrogel, which is sandwiched between the electrodes to form, and the Prussian blue on the electrode undergoes a redox reaction…
Zap Energy achieves 37-million-degree temperatures in a compact device
New publication reports record electron temperatures for a small-scale, sheared-flow-stabilized Z-pinch fusion device. In the nine decades since humans first produced fusion reactions, only a few fusion technologies have demonstrated…
